Hospitals and other kinds of healthcare facilities dispense drugs to patients. The healthcare facilities generally purchase these drugs from suppliers.
In some cases, drugs purchased by healthcare facilities from suppliers are routed through a Central Drug Distribution Center (“CDC”). A typical CDC receives drugs on behalf of multiple “member health care facilities;” repackages them in individual doses; and distributes the drugs in individual dose form to particular member healthcare facilities.
While CDCs are in some cases commonly owned with all of their member healthcare facilities, in other cases, not all of the member healthcare facilities are co-owned with the CDC.